8 March 2022, FoxFooty studios, Melbourne, Australia
That was one of the things, as a kid, about getting drafted to St Kilda. There’s the excitement about, you’re drafted, your AFL career is starting,
I remember it was dad when I got drafted as an 18-year-old that said ‘you know Shane Warne’s a Saints fan?’ And I kinda loosely knew but I thought ‘oh yeah, you’re right! Maybe I’ll get to meet him one day!’ And I think any kid who got drafted to the Saints, that would go through your mind at some stage.
That moment came pretty early for me. We had a BBQ at (ex-St Kilda president) Rod Butterss’ house to welcome all the new players, and there were some board membes there, and Shane Warne was there.
Rod had a tennis court, so the boys got out on the court and everyone was doing their impersonations (of Warne), just hoping that he’d come out, and he did.
As soon as he grabbed the ball there was a fight over who was going to grab the bat, and so Milney (Stephen Milne) somehow won the battle for the bat, and I thought ‘well I’m not silly, I’m gonna go stand behind the stumps!’ So I went and stood in the keeper’s position.
He rolled in, he bowled a leggie, and Milney being Milney, he tried to hit it from Middle Brighton to North Brighton, over the train line. Missed it, I’ve taken it behind the stumps, taken the bails off and from there - here I was, this 18-year-old kid, growing up loving cricket, Shane Warne posters and all of that stuff.
I took off. I ran down the tennis court to embrace him like I’m bloody Ian Healy, and we’ve just won the World Cup! And I think about it now and I actually cringe - what were you thinking?
But just the excitement that he brought to all of the guys that encountered him, knowing that he was a Saints supporter and here was this guy who had achieved everything but somewhere deep down he would love to have actually been doing what you’re doing. That’s what humanised him for all of us.
